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77-442: The first three paths are known as "the three benevolent destinies" ( kuśalagati ), where beings experience varying degrees of virtue, pleasure, and pain. The last three paths are referred to as the three unbenevolent destinies ( akuśalagati ), where beings lack virtue and suffer predominantly. Typically, we as human beings only perceive the animals around us. The first Buddhist texts mention only five paths without distinguishing between

154-473: A bad karma to injure plants and minor life forms with negative impact on a soul's saṃsāra . However, some texts in Buddhism and Hinduism do caution a person from injuring all life forms, including plants and seeds. Saṃsāra in Buddhism, states Jeff Wilson, is the "suffering-laden cycle of life, death, and rebirth, without beginning or end". Also referred to as the wheel of existence ( Bhavacakra ), it

231-631: A certain realm. The ten unwholesome actions (kamma-patha) that produce bad karma are the three bodily actions (murder, stealing, sexual misconduct), four vocal actions (lying, divisive speech, hurtful speech, frivolous speech) and three mental actions (avarice, ill-will, wrong views). The mental states that promote these actions are: strong greed, hatred and delusion. The ten wholesome actions that are inspired by generosity ( dana ), ethical conduct ( sila ) and meditation ( bhavana ). Mental states that support these actions are: desirelessness, friendliness and wisdom. The Saddharmasmṛtyupasthānasūtra ("Sutra of

308-527: A class of souls that can never attain moksha (liberation). The Ābhāvya state of soul is entered after an intentional and shockingly evil act. Jainism considers souls as pluralistic each in a karma- saṃsāra cycle, and does not subscribe to Advaita style nondualism of Hinduism, or Advaya style nondualism of Buddhism. The Jaina theosophy, like ancient Ajivika , but unlike Hindu and Buddhist theosophies, asserts that each soul passes through 8,400,000 birth-situations, as they circle through saṃsāra . As

385-449: A fundamental concept in all Indian religions , is linked to the karma theory and refers to the belief that all living beings cyclically go through births and rebirths. The term is related to phrases such as "the cycle of successive existence", "transmigration", "karmic cycle", "the wheel of life", and "cyclicality of all life, matter, existence". Many scholarly texts spell saṃsāra as samsara . According to Monier-Williams, saṃsāra

462-560: A jewel, she is said to have become pregnant and gave birth to Genshin. Genshin took tonsure with the Tendai sect of Buddhism as a child at Enryakuji Temple, though the reasons are unknown. One theory is that his father died, since his mother and sisters also took tonsure at some point. While there, he studied under the controversial monk Ryōgen , who was active in strengthening his faction while intermingling with important political figures. Genshin, like many novice monks at Enryakuji ,

539-408: A list of six realms of rebirth, adding demi-gods ( asuras ), which were included in gods realm in earlier traditions. The "hungry ghost, heavenly, hellish realms" respectively formulate the ritual, literary and moral spheres of many contemporary Buddhist traditions. The saṃsāra concept, in Buddhism, envisions that these six realms are interconnected, and everyone cycles life after life, and death

616-469: A means of liberation from saṃsāra it calls bondage. The various sub-traditions of Hinduism, and of Buddhism, accepted free will, avoided asceticism, accepted renunciation and monastic life, and developed their own ideas on liberation through realization of the true nature of existence. In Hinduism , saṃsāra is a journey of the Ātman . The body dies but not the Ātman , which is eternal reality, indestructible, and bliss. Everything and all existence

693-540: A new doctrinal and functional context for the phenomenon of kusōzu (九相図, lit.  "nine-phase pictures") in which nine stages of a corpse in decay were displayed that served the purpose of liberation from sensual desires by contemplation of impurity. In addition to general practices related to the Pure Land, Genshin emphasized the practice of "deathbed nembutsu" that is to say the practices performed on one's deathbed. Genshin felt that nembutsu practices performed near

770-514: A state which is considered synonymous with Nirvāṇa . Sikhism incorporates the concepts of saṃsāra (sometimes spelled as Saṅsāra in Sikh texts), karma and cyclical nature of time and existence. Founded in the 15th century, its founder Guru Nanak incorporated the cyclical concept of ancient Indian religions and the cyclical concept of time, state Cole and Sambhi. However, states Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair, there are important differences between

847-437: A vocal recitation was an adequate substitute. In addition, Genshin recommended auxiliary practices such as reciting sutras, maintaining wholesome conduct and repentance of past transgressions, all mainstream Mahayana Buddhist practices. However, Genshin felt these practices were helpful in supporting the visualization of Amitabha Buddha, and thus he advocated a holistic approach. Furthermore, in his work Ōjōyōshū he included

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924-491: Is a fundamental belief of most Indian religions . The concept of saṃsāra has roots in the post- Vedic literature ; the theory is not discussed in the Vedas themselves. It appears in developed form, but without mechanistic details, in the early Upanishads . The full exposition of the saṃsāra doctrine is found in early Buddhism and Jainism , as well as in various schools of Hindu philosophy . The saṃsāra doctrine

1001-433: Is born and dies, to be reborn elsewhere in accordance with the completely impersonal causal nature of one's own karma; This endless cycle of birth, rebirth, and redeath is saṃsāra ". The Four Noble Truths , accepted by all Buddhist traditions, are aimed at ending this saṃsāra-related re-becoming (rebirth) and associated cycles of suffering. Like Jainism, Buddhism developed its own saṃsāra theory, that evolved over time

1078-521: Is closely associated with the belief that the person continues to be born and reborn in various realms and forms. The earliest layers of Vedic text incorporate the concept of life, followed by an afterlife in heaven and hell based on cumulative virtues (merit) or vices (demerit). However, the ancient Vedic Rishis challenged this idea of afterlife as simplistic, because people do not live an equally moral or immoral life. Between generally virtuous lives, some are more virtuous; while evil too has degrees, and

1155-613: Is connected, cyclical, and composed of two things: the Self, or Ātman , and the body, or matter . This eternal Self called Ātman never reincarnates, it does not change and cannot change in the Hindu belief. In contrast, the body and personality, can change, constantly changes, is born and dies. Current karma impacts the future circumstances in this life, as well as the future forms and realms of lives. Good intent and actions lead to good future, bad intent and actions lead to bad future, in

1232-530: Is considered a sin in Jainism, with negative karmic effects. A liberated soul in Jainism is one who has gone beyond saṃsāra , is at the apex, is omniscient, remains there eternally, and is known as a Siddha . A male human being is considered closest to the apex with the potential to achieve liberation, particularly through asceticism. Women must gain karmic merit, to be reborn as man, and only then can they achieve spiritual liberation in Jainism, particularly in

1309-400: Is defined as that which never changes or Sat (eternal truth, reality), and moksha as the realization of Brahman and freedom from saṃsāra . The dualistic devotional traditions such as Madhvacharya 's Dvaita Vedanta tradition of Hinduism champion a theistic premise, assert the individual human Self and Brahman ( Vishnu , Krishna ) are two different realities, loving devotion to Vishnu

1386-435: Is derived from the verbal root sṛ with the prefix saṃ , Saṃsṛ (संसृ), meaning "to go round, revolve, pass through a succession of states, to go towards or obtain, moving in a circuit". A nominal derivative formed from this root appears in ancient texts as saṃsaraṇa , which means "going around through a succession of states, birth, rebirth of living beings and the world", without obstruction. Another nominal derivative from

1463-497: Is just a state for an afterlife, through these realms, because of a combination of ignorance, desires and purposeful karma, or ethical and unethical actions. Nirvāṇa is typically described as the freedom from rebirth and the only alternative to suffering of saṃsāra , in Buddhism. However, the Buddhist texts developed a more comprehensive theory of rebirth, states Steven Collins, from fears of redeath, called amata (death-free),

1540-628: Is known is that Genshin was born in Yamato Province , in Taima, to one Uraba no Masachika and his wife from the Kiyohara clan, of the Minamoto family. The members of the Minamoto family were provincial aristocrats. His pious mother, a Pure Land believer, is said to have wished for a son, and prayed before a statue of the bodhisattva Kannon . After receiving a vision where a monk handed her

1617-433: Is often mentioned in Buddhist texts with the term punarbhava (rebirth, re-becoming); the liberation from this cycle of existence, Nirvāṇa , is the foundation and the most important purpose of Buddhism. Saṃsāra is considered permanent in Buddhism, just like other Indian religions. Karma drives this permanent saṃsāra in Buddhist thought, states Paul Williams, and "short of attaining enlightenment, in each rebirth one

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1694-543: Is originally enlightened, but unaware of it. In all, Genshin left more than 30 works which continue to influence Pure Land thought today. The image of Amida Nyorai in the main building of Yasaka-ji Temple in Shikoku is said to have been made by Genshin in the Heian Period . Sa%E1%B9%83s%C4%81ra Saṃsāra ( Devanagari : संसार) is a Sanskrit word that means "wandering" as well as "world," wherein

1771-503: Is self-liberation (moksha) from saṃsāra . The Upanishads , part of the scriptures of the Hindu traditions, primarily focus on self-liberation from saṃsāra . The Bhagavad Gita discusses various paths to liberation. The Upanishads, states Harold Coward, offer a "very optimistic view regarding the perfectibility of human nature", and the goal of human effort in these texts is a continuous journey to self-perfection and self-knowledge so as to end saṃsāra . The aim of spiritual quest in

1848-467: Is somehow connected to the ultimate unchanging immortal reality and bliss called Brahman , and that the rest is the always-changing subject (body) in a phenomenal world ( Maya ). Redeath, in the Vedic theosophical speculations, reflected the end of "blissful years spent in svarga or heaven", and it was followed by rebirth back in the phenomenal world. Saṃsāra developed into a foundational theory of

1925-583: Is suffering with each cycle of rebirth. These features of Sikhism, along with its belief in Saṅsāra and the grace of God, are similar to some bhakti-oriented sub-traditions within Hinduism such as those found in Vaishnavism . Sikhism does not believe that ascetic life, as recommended in Jainism, is the path to liberation. Rather, it cherishes social engagement and householder's life combined with devotion to

2002-501: Is the means to release from saṃsāra , it is the grace of Vishnu which leads to moksha, and spiritual liberation is achievable only in after-life ( videhamukti ). The nondualistic traditions such as Adi Shankara 's Advaita Vedanta tradition of Hinduism champion a monistic premise, asserting that the individual Atman and Brahman are identical, and only ignorance, impulsiveness and inertia leads to suffering through saṃsāra . In reality they are no dualities, meditation and self-knowledge

2079-416: Is the path to liberation, the realization that one's Ātman is identical to Brahman is moksha , and spiritual liberation is achievable in this life ( jivanmukti ). In Jainism , the saṃsāra and karma doctrine are central to its theological foundations, as evidenced by the extensive literature on it in the major sects of Jainism, and their pioneering ideas on karma and saṃsāra from the earliest times of

2156-404: Is tied to the karma theory of Hinduism , and the liberation from saṃsāra has been at the core of the spiritual quest of Indian traditions, as well as their internal disagreements. The liberation from saṃsāra is called Moksha , Nirvāṇa , Mukti, or Kaivalya . Saṃsāra ( Devanagari : संसार) means "wandering", as well as "world" wherein the term connotes "cyclic change". S aṃsāra ,

2233-482: Is usually described as rebirth and reincarnation ( Punarjanman ) of living beings ( Jiva ), the chronological development of the idea over its history began with the questions on what is the true nature of human existence and whether people die only once. This led first to the concepts of Punarmṛtyu ("redeath") and Punaravṛtti ("return"). These early theories asserted that the nature of human existence involves two realities, one unchanging absolute Atman (Self) which

2310-542: The Digambara sect of Jainism; however, this view has been historically debated within Jainism and different Jaina sects have expressed different views, particularly the Shvetambara sect that believes that women too can achieve liberation from saṃsāra . In contrast to Buddhist texts which do not expressly or unambiguously condemn injuring or killing plants and minor life forms, Jaina texts do. Jainism considers it

2387-640: The Katha Upanishad , verse 6.16 of the Shvetashvatara Upanishad , verses 1.4 and 6.34 of the Maitri Upanishad . The word saṃsāra is related to Saṃsṛti , the latter referring to the "course of mundane existence, transmigration, flow, circuit or stream". The word literally means "wandering through, flowing on", states Stephen J. Laumakis, in the sense of "aimless and directionless wandering". The concept of saṃsāra

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2464-593: The Mahabharata and section 6.10 of the Devi Bhagavata Purana . The historical origins of the concept of reincarnation , or Punarjanman , are obscure but, the idea appears in texts of both India and ancient Greece during the first millennium BC. The idea of saṃsāra is hinted in the late Vedic texts such as the Rigveda , but the theory is absent. According to Sayers, the earliest layers of

2541-460: The Saṅsāra concept in Sikhism from the saṃsāra concept in many traditions within Hinduism. The difference is that Sikhism firmly believes in the grace of God as the means to salvation, and its precepts encourage the bhakti of One Lord for mukti (salvation). Sikhism, like the three ancient Indian traditions, believes that body is perishable, that there is a cycle of rebirth, and that there

2618-414: The saṃsāra theories evolved in respective Indian traditions. For example, in their saṃsāra theories, states Obeyesekere, the Hindu traditions accepted Ātman or Self exists and asserted it to be the unchanging essence of each living being, while Buddhist traditions denied such a soul exists and developed the concept of Anattā . Salvation ( moksha , mukti) in the Hindu traditions was described using

2695-481: The Buddha was asked how long an aeon is, he gave a smile. Early texts are not explicit about how these realms are to be interpreted; however, they can be seen as states of consciousness. The realm of deva symbolising the purer and spiritual stages of consciousness, humans relating to the abilities of reason and logic, animals and hunger ghosts especially can be seen as an image of instinct and Naraka would represent

2772-607: The Buddhist Tendai sect active during the tenth and eleventh centuries in Japan . Genshin, who was trained in both esoteric and exoteric teachings, wrote a number of treatises pertaining to the increasingly famous Pure Land Buddhism from a Tendai viewpoint, but his magnum opus , the Ōjōyōshū ( 往生要集 , "Essentials of Birth in the Pure Land") , had considerable influence on later Pure Land teachers such as Honen and Shinran . In spite of growing political tensions within

2849-427: The Buddhist traditions. However, saṃsāra or the cycle of rebirths, has a definite beginning and end in Jainism. Souls begin their journey in a primordial state, and exist in a state of consciousness continuum that is constantly evolving through saṃsāra . Some evolve to a higher state, while some regress, a movement that is driven by karma. Further, Jaina traditions believe that there exist Ābhāvya (incapable), or

2926-561: The Dharma, and that the only hope for salvation lay in the reliance on the power of Amitabha . Because of this interest, and due to the worsening crisis within the Tendai monastic community, Genshin retreated from secular matters, and composed a number of treatises on Pure Land teachings, cataloging them, providing commentaries, etc. Genshin composed over 30 different documents in his lifetime. The Ōjōyōshū ( 往生要集 , "Essentials of Birth in

3003-484: The Hindu view of life. The journey of samsara allows the atman the opportunity to perform positive or negative karmas throughout each birth and make spiritual efforts to attain moksha . A virtuous life, actions consistent with dharma, are believed by Hindus to contribute to a better future, whether in this life or future lives. The aim of spiritual pursuits, whether it be through the path of bhakti (devotion), karma (work), jñāna (knowledge), or raja (meditation)

3080-583: The Imperial court again. Between 984 and 985 he composed the Ōjōyōshū. He seems to have written it within five months. In 986, Genshin did journey on a pilgrimage to Kyushu where he came into contact with Chinese Buddhist monks (and merchant escorts) who were staying there, and they exchanged works with one another. A merchant named Yang Renzhao (楊仁昭) reported that a copy of Ōjōyōshū was deposited there at Guoqingsi Temple on Mount Tiantai some time before 990. Genshin sought to further expand contacts with

3157-482: The Imperial court at Kyoto spread, and he was invited for lectures, events, a promotion by the court to "supernumerary minor bishop", and so on. The powerful Fujiwara no Michinaga sought him out for private religious services, but Genshin politely refused. The Tale of Genji also mentions a "bishop of Yokawa", which is thought to refer to Genshin. In his final years, he resigned his title and position and took up more writing, before he finally passed away in 1017 at

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3234-458: The Jaina tradition. Saṃsāra in Jainism represents the worldly life characterized by continuous rebirths and suffering in various realms of existence. The conceptual framework of the saṃsāra doctrine differs between the Jainism traditions and other Indian religions. For instance, in Jaina traditions, soul ( jiva ) is accepted as a truth, as is assumed in the Hindu traditions, but not assumed in

3311-611: The Pure Land remained in Genshin's thought, within the larger Tendai approach, with the Lotus Sutra as its central teaching, an expedient means on the path to Buddhahood . Further, Genshin's teachings on the "deathbed nembutsu" ritual were highly influential in Heian Period Buddhist practice. Genshin's life is somewhat obscure despite four different biographies written about him in the Heian Period , but what

3388-406: The Pure Land") , his largest work, is essentially a comprehensive analysis of the Pure Land path and existing practices. Genshin's interpretation of the nembutsu was a fairly orthodox interpretation at the time, relying upon visualization of Amitabha Buddha's features, and on the Pure Land. Elsewhere, Genshin acknowledged that if visualization of the Buddha was too difficult, then the nembutsu as

3465-542: The Remembrance of the True Law") interprets the different realms, stating that the deva world is a human ideal of pleasure based upon ignorance which is transitory and decays. This causes the deva eventual suffering. Being situated in the human world exposes one to disease, impurities, exposure to impermanence and a non-self (anātman ). The animal realm is a place for those who have tormented animals and will receive

3542-521: The Tendai Buddhist tradition and his writings on the Pure Land, Buddhist logic and Tendai teachings reflected an orthodox stance: Genshin, like many Buddhist monks at the time in Japan starting with the evangelist Kūya and the scholar-monk Senkan , took an increasing interest in Pure Land teachings imported from China. The prevailing belief was that the world had entered the degenerate age of

3619-546: The Tendai religious hierarchy, and despite being one of the two leading disciples of the controversial Ryogen , 18th head of the Enryakuji Temple, Genshin and a small group of fellow monks maintained a secluded community at Yokawa on Mount Hiei solely devoted toward rebirth in the Pure Land , while staying largely neutral in the conflict. He was one of the thinkers who maintained that the nembutsu ritual, which

3696-503: The Upanishadic traditions is to find the true self within and to know one's Self, a state that it believes leads to blissful state of freedom, moksha . All Hindu traditions share the concept of saṃsāra , but they differ in details and what they describe the state of liberation from saṃsāra to be. The saṃsāra is viewed as the cycle of rebirth in a temporal world of always changing reality or Maya (appearance, illusive), Brahman

3773-581: The Vedic literature show ancestor worship and rites such as sraddha (offering food to the ancestors). The later Vedic texts such as the Aranyakas and the Upanishads show a different soteriology based on reincarnation, they show little concern with ancestor rites, and they begin to philosophically interpret the earlier rituals, although the idea is not fully developed yet. It is in the early Upanishads where these ideas are more fully developed, but there too

3850-413: The accumulated dukkha from past actions. Humans can therefore easily move through different stages throughout their lives. This can also be understood through the nature of karma . Karma is considered an action with an intention behind it. This intention, produced by the mentality, can either be wholesome or unwholesome. These mental states then translate to a karma that is accumulated and connected to

3927-460: The age of 76 due to advanced age and probable illness. In his final days, he lay mostly bedridden, grasping a string tied to the hand of a statue of Amitabha Buddha per his own "deathbed nembutsu" practice. He recited verses with his disciples, and eventually died in his sleep. The date of his passing is still marked by an annual ceremony at the Mount Hiei 's Yokawa. Genshin was trained in

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4004-432: The concepts of Ātman (self) and Brahman (universal reality), while in Buddhism it (nirvāṇa, nibbāna) was described through the concept of Anattā (no self) and Śūnyatā (emptiness). The Ajivika tradition combined saṃsāra with the premise that there is no free will, while the Jainism tradition accepted the concept of soul (calling it "jiva" ) with free will, but emphasized asceticism and cessation of action as

4081-725: The cycle of birth and death. The concept of saṃsāra developed in the post- Vedic times, and is traceable in the Samhita layers such as in sections 1.164, 4.55, 6.70 and 10.14 of the Rigveda . While the idea is mentioned in the Samhita layers of the Vedas, there is lack of clear exposition there, and the idea fully develops in the early Upanishads . Damien Keown states that the notion of "cyclic birth and death" appears around 800 BC. The word saṃsāra appears, along with Moksha , in several Principal Upanishads such as in verse 1.3.7 of

4158-466: The daily psychological possibilities of humans and was divided into five above mentioned worlds with the exception of the asura realm. In response to the question since when beings wander within samsara (i.e. the Six Paths) , the Buddha answered that the starting point could not be identified nor understood. One conclusion that is certain, is that we have wandered already for aeons, however, when

4235-533: The discussion does not provide specific mechanistic details. The detailed doctrines flower with unique characteristics, starting around the mid 1st millennium BC, in diverse traditions such as in Buddhism, Jainism and various schools of Hindu philosophy . The evidence for who influenced whom in the ancient times, is slim and speculative, and the odds are the historic development of the Saṃsāra theories likely happened in parallel with mutual influences. While saṃsāra

4312-623: The good karma within the pleasurable existence in this realm, can be reborn in Naraka . In regards to Nirvana the Six Paths do not constitute a hierarchy that leads to it. Gethin argues that it can only be achieved through the human and the deva realm. Genshin Genshin ( 源信 , 942 – July 6, 1017) , also known as Eshin Sōzu ( 恵心僧都 ) , was the most impactful of a number of scholar- monks of

4389-423: The hour of death were particularly important, as one's final thoughts before death had a disproportionate importance in determining one's rebirth. While the precedence existed in earlier Chinese texts, Genshin spent considerable time in the Ōjōyōshū discussing its importance, and how to concentrate on the Buddha, and enlisting support from friends to maintain concentration and practice. By maintaining focus until

4466-518: The larger context, placing rebirth, redeath and truth of pain at the center and the start of religious life. Sramanas view s aṃsāra as a beginningless cyclical process with each birth and death as punctuations in that process, and spiritual liberation as freedom from rebirth and redeath. The saṃsāric rebirth and redeath ideas are discussed in these religions with various terms, such as Āgatigati in many early Pali Suttas of Buddhism. Across different religions, different soteriology were emphasized as

4543-430: The last breath, Genshin felt that the practitioner would be assured of rebirth in the Pure Land, but if their mind wavered, rebirth was not certain. Genshin's influence in contemporary Japanese culture today is primarily due to his treatise, Ōjōyōshū , particularly its graphic descriptions of the Buddhist hell realms (地獄 jigoku ), which inspired a genre of horror and morality stories. The 1960 Japanese film Jigoku

4620-408: The mechanistic details on how the wheel of mundane existence works over the endless cycles of rebirth and redeath. In early Buddhist traditions, saṃsāra cosmology consisted of five realms through which wheel of existence recycled. This included hells ( niraya ), hungry ghosts ( pretas ), animals ( tiryak ), humans ( manushya ), and gods ( devas , heavenly). In latter traditions, this list grew to

4697-433: The nature of existence, shared by all Indian religions. Rebirth as a human being, states John Bowker, was then presented as a "rare opportunity to break the sequence of rebirth, thus attaining Moksha, release". Each Indian spiritual tradition developed its own assumptions and paths ( marga or yoga ) for this spiritual release, with some developing the ideas of Jivanmukti (liberation and freedom in this life), while

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4774-450: The others content with Videhamukti (liberation and freedom in after-life). The First Truth The first truth, suffering (Pali: dukkha; Sanskrit: duhkha), is characteristic of existence in the realm of rebirth, called samsara (literally “wandering”). — Four Noble Truths , Donald Lopez The Sramanas traditions (Buddhism and Jainism) added novel ideas, starting about the 6th century BC. They emphasized human suffering in

4851-669: The parent Tiantai community in China, but due to the An Lushan Rebellion and internal strife within the Chinese community from 1000 onward, these efforts did not achieve the expected results. In the year 1004 he received the promotion of Gon Shōsōzu by the government. This in turn enabled him to become one of the highest ranking monks in Japan. With this he obtained the title Eshin Sōzu Genshin. By this point Genshin's fame in

4928-412: The path of enlightenment and to identify within the hell of their own mind the faceless past existences that are in constant suffering. While it might be tempting to aspire a rebirth within the world of gods or celestial beings, the deva are so full of joy in this realm that are unable to understand the teaching about the permanent dukkha in samsara . Furthermore, even a deva having consumed all

5005-527: The paths of deva and asura . Moreover not all texts acknowledge the world of asura . In Japan, the monk Genshin even inexplicably places the path of humans below that of the asuras. The elements forming karma are constituted in bodily, oral or mental volitional acts. The chain of transmigration due to the Three Poisons (hatred, greed, ignorance), of which ignorance ( avidyā ) of the ultimate truth (Sanskrit: paramārtha ; Chinese: zhēndì 真谛) or

5082-455: The same root is saṃsāra , referring to the same concept: a "passage through successive states of mundane existence", transmigration, metempsychosis , a circuit of living where one repeats previous states, from one body to another, a worldly life of constant change, that is rebirth, growth, decay and redeath. Saṃsāra is understood as opposite of moksha , also known as mukti , nirvāṇa , nibbāna or kaivalya , which refers to liberation from

5159-414: The same treatment. The asura are in this realm as well and wage war against the deva. The preta realm is created by greed and ignorance of humans. It is the place for those who have refused offerings and are controlled by avarice. The hells ( naraka ) represent the dark labyrinths of the mind entrenched by ignorance and self-deceit. The grotesque hell imagery is used in order to initiate the individual on

5236-466: The soul cycles, states Padmanabh Jaini, Jainism traditions believe that it goes through five types of bodies: earth bodies, water bodies, fire bodies, air bodies and vegetable lives. With all human and non-human activities, such as rainfall, agriculture, eating and even breathing, minuscule living beings are taking birth or dying, their souls are believed to be constantly changing bodies. Perturbing, harming or killing any life form, including any human being,

5313-504: The stated goal of the Fellowship was for its members to mutually assist one another in their efforts to be reborn in the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha and away from the turbulent of the declining age of the Dharma they believed they were living in. It is unclear if Genshin was a founding member or not, however. Genshin was both active in research and writing at this time, until around 1001 when he began participating in ceremonies at

5390-503: The tension and violence between the two factions of the Tendai sect worsened, in large part due to Ryōgen's policies overtly favoring one over the other, Genshin retired to more remote Yokawa region of Mount Hiei by 981, and evidence shows increasing interest in Pure Land Buddhist teachings than before. Other disciples of Ryōgen such as Zōga (増賀, 917-1003) similarly retired in disgust with some leaving Mount Hiei entirely. It

5467-405: The term connotes "cyclic change" or, less formally, "running around in circles." Saṃsāra is referred to with terms or phrases such as transmigration/reincarnation , karmic cycle , or Punarjanman , and "cycle of aimless drifting, wandering or mundane existence". When related to the theory of karma it is the cycle of death and rebirth . The "cyclicity of all life, matter, and existence"

5544-440: The texts assert that it would be unfair for god Yama to judge and reward people with varying degrees of virtue or vices, in an "either or,” and disproportionate manner. They introduced the idea of an afterlife in heaven or hell in proportion to one's merit, and when this runs out, one returns and is reborn. This idea appears in ancient and medieval texts, as the cycle of life, death, rebirth and redeath, such as section 6:31 of

5621-413: The true law (Sanskrit: saddharma , सद्धर्म, correct law ; Chinese: miàofǎ , 妙法, marvelous law ) is generally presented as the source of reincarnation in the three non-benevolent destinies. Early Buddhist descriptions divided the psychocosmic universe into three "worlds": the kāma-loka ("world of desire"), r ūpa-loka ("world of form") and arūpa-loka (""world of non-form"). The kāma-loka dealt with

5698-527: Was at Yokawa that Genshin completed the Ōjōyōshū in 985, but not before completing other, smaller works on meditation methods of Amitabha Buddha. It was also during this time that Genshin joined fellow monks dwelling in Yokawa established a " nembutsu fellowship" called the nijūgo zanmaie ( 二十五三昧会 , "The Fellowship of the Twenty-five Samadhis ") . According to the records from the time,

5775-566: Was influenced by Genshin's Ōjōyōshū, and in the manga and anime Jujutsu Kaisen , the corpse of Genshin functions as a "prison realm," likely playing on the themes of the underworld within Genshin's works. In Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, he is considered the Sixth Patriarch . Genshin is credited as the founder of the Enshin school of Tendai Buddhism, and for espousing the "original enlightenment" teaching, or hongaku (本覚), where one

5852-451: Was said to induce a vision of Amida, was an important hermeneutic principle in the Buddhist doctrinal system. In summarizing Genshin's teachings, he emphasized the efficacy of the nembutsu for rebirth in the Pure Land , but as part of a holistic approach using a number of mutually supportive practices such as visualization, chanting, personal conduct, etc., in contrast to the later, exclusive teaching of Honen . The purpose and intent of

5929-502: Was trained in the Tendai tradition, which included study of other traditions, both exoteric and esoteric . Later, Genshin took part in debates promoted by Ryōgen to enforce academic standards, and during one debate in 974 at the Imperial palace impressed one Taira no Chikanobu who wrote praise in his personal diary at Genshin's debate skills. From this time, Genshin also wrote a number of works on Buddhist logic, some of which were personal notes, others were meant for wider audiences. As

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